Apparatus for producing tomato products



Nam 2, 1937. E. c. EBERT S APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING TOMATO PRODUCTSOriginal Filed June 22, 1933 W m m Q Nw M "a W NM R wk v N %N NM QN B 1%A :QN aw Q a Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUSFOR PRODUCING TOMATO PRODUCTS Edward C. Eberts, Jeifcrsonville, Ind.,assignor to Stokely Brothers & Company, Indianapolis, Ind, a corporationof Delaware 9 Claims.

Tomato juice intended to be packaged for interstate commerce must, ofcourse, comply with government regulations that it shall be anunconcentrated pasteurized product consisting of a liquid, with asubstantial portion of the pulp, expressed from ripe tomatoes. A productanswering to the above definition is not necessarily either stable or asfinely flavored as it may be.

t is well known that juices of fresh tomatoes contain vitamins A, B andC and that, when such juices are produced by substantial crushing of thefruit by the usual methods in order to obtain a juice having acommercially acceptable solid content, there is a rapid flavordeterioration and loss of vitamin content, particularly vitamin C,

before the juice can be commercially packaged,

and that, in many instances, the solid content of the extracted juicehas a decided tendency to separate from the liquid.

When tomatoes are crushed the cells, within which the enzymes arenaturally sealed, are broken and the freshly liberated enzymes, in thepresence of oxygen, apparently Very actively and quickly cause orstimulate a change of the peetin to pectic acid and, as a. result, asubstantial vitamin content appears to be destroyed.

Apparently, also, the development of pectic acid substantiallydiminishes the ability of the solid content to remain suspendeduniformly in the liquid body.

I have discovered a new process for treating fresh tomatoes, thepractice of which results in protecting the pectin from substantialchange into pectic acid and in thereby preserving a larger proportion ofthe vitamin content and. a substantial elimination of tendency of thesolid content to separate from the liquid.

I have also devised new apparatus by means of which my improved processmay be practiced on a commercial scale at low cost.

As a result of my newly discovered process the total bulk of pulp (sansskins and seeds if desired) obtainable from a given quantity of rawfruit and available for preservation as pulp or for use in producingcatsup, chili sauce, etc., and total bulk of beverage juice (having acommercially acceptable nonseparating solid content) available forpackaging, are considerably greater than have been obtainable bypreviously known processes.

The flavor of both juice and pulp is also decidedly better and morenearly that of the raw fruit, and the vitamin content is more nearlythat of the raw fruit.

The increase of available bulk is apparently due to a jellying actionattributable to the preservation of the pectin and avoidance ofdevelopment of pectic acid.

My new process involves, primarily, crushing of each fruit after andduring complete submergence in a body of pulp and juice which ismaintained at a temperature, (say about 180 to 190" degrees Fahr.) whichis sufficiently above normal atmospheric temperatures to discourageenzyme reactions.

My past experience indicates that the most desirable temperature rangeis below 212 F. and above 150 F.

It is commercially impossible, or impracticable, to avoid all mashing orbreaking of the fruit during the necessary preliminary handling inpicking, transporting, washing and steaming, but it is advisable toexercise as much care as possible, during these preliminary steps, toavoid rupture of the fruit.

After the fruit has been washed, selected, graded and stemmed, it ispromptly submerged in a bath comprising a substantial body of juice andpulp at super-normal temperature, as stated above, whereupon the heatedfruit, while still submerged, is crushed by expression through aperforated plate. The bath is preferably continuously stirred and.preferably by means which will avoid, as much as practicable, materialsplashing of the upper surface so as to minimize air absorption.

The temperature of the bath is maintained by added heat.

If desired, the bath during a long run may be maintained at asubstantially constant level by overflowing pulp from near the top ofthe bath and extracting juice from the lower region of the bath, or byconcurrent extraction of mixed pulp and juice for ultimate separationelsewhere, but I have found in practice that more accurate andsatisfactory results may be obtained by an alternate batch operationwhich will furnish a substantially uniform supply of pulp (for treatmentby a finisher to remove undesired skins, etc.) and beverage juice to bedelivered to packaging machines.

Care should be exercised throughout the practice of the process toeliminate, as far as possible, possibility ofabsorption of air.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, somewhat diagrammatically my newapparatus which has proven to be commercially satisfactory in thepractice of my improved method.

Fig. 1 is a general diagram, in the nature of a flow sheet, in partialvertical section, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a suitable juice extractor. The termjuice is here used to designate a drinkable mixture containing asubstantial quantity of tomato solids in finely divided state.

In the drawing Ill, l8 indicates two primary vats or tanks of convenientcapacity, say 750 gallons, each provided with suitable covers which willpermit access to the interior, and with suitable heating means, such asa steam coil S.

Depending into each vat is a tube l2 having near its upper end an inletI3 adapted to receive fresh fruit from a hopper I l to which the fruitis delivered by a conveyer' C leading from the Washing apparatus (notshown). Tube I2 extends to a level near the bottom of the vat and at itslower end is provided with a bottom plate l5 which is perforated by alarge number of comparatively small perforations l5 which are preferablyfunnel shaped.

Rotatably mounted in each tube i2 is a spiral conveyor flight It formedto receive the fruit as it arrives through inlet |3, promptly submergeit in the liquid contents of the vat, and'carry it to and force itthrough the perforations l5,

thereby reducing the fruit to a mixture of pure juice, a desirableportion of pulp which will remain suspended in the juice, and aremainder of pulp, seeds, and skins (and stems if any), which will riseto the top of the fruit body.

A drain pipe leads from each vat H), at a level sufficiently above thelower end of tube l2 to insure an adequate depth of bath in the vat forproper submergence of the first-arriving fruit of a' succeeding batch,and these pipes conveniently deliver to the pump outflow pipe |8 throughvalves |9. Each vat is also provided with a supplemental drain 28 whichleads through valve 2| to pipe |8 in order that each vat may becoinpletely drained when desired.

Arranged at the bottom of each vat is a juice extractor 25 provided witha discharge pipe 26 which leads, through a three-way valve 21, to ajuice tank 28.

For a number of operating reasons I have found that it is apparentlybetter to have a separate juice tank for each of the vats H! and thesejuice tanks should be preferably porcelain lined or glass lined. Eachjuice tank is provided with a cover by which the tank may behermetically sealed, said cover being preferably provided with asuitable man-hole, not shown, by which access may be had to theinterior. Each juice tank 28 is provided with a pressure gage 38, itsconnection with the tank being conveniently provided with ahand-controlled valve 3|. Each juice tank is also provided with acontrollable venting valve 32, and is also preferably provided with avalve 33 through which desired condiments may be injected into the tankwithout substantially breaking the sub-atmospheric pressure which mayexist in the tank.

Leading from each juice tank is a pipe 38, the outer end of which isconnected to a vacuum chamber 35, preferably having a capacityconsiderably in excess of the capacity of either juice tank, andconnected by a pipe 36 with a vacuum pump 31. terposed between chamberand pump 3! so as to automatically limit the minus pressure which may beinduced in the system.

Leading from each valve 21 is a discharge pipe which leads to apackaging machine 4|, either such for instance as the heating coil 5|.

An automatic differential 38 is in-' directly or through an homogenizeror viscolizer Each juice tank 28 is provided with a mechanical stirrer58 and with suitable heating means, The vats I0, I8 and tanks 28, 28 areeach provided with a suitable thermometer T.

The juice extractor, which I have found to be highly efficient, isillustrated in Fig. 2 and comprises a pair of mating rings 55, havinginwardly-extending radial arms 56 which support a central journalbearing 51. The outer end of each ring 55 is covered by a fine screen 58of approximately 0.023 round openings. These openings are formed asclosely as practicable through a metal sheet, approximately 28 gage,unaffected by the juice, such as Monel metal. Journaled in theabove-mentioned bearings is a shaft 58 carrying a pair of brushes 8|, 6|which engage the outer faces of the screens 58. The shaft 60 isprojected through the wall of tank I8 and provided at its outer end withmeans by which the brushes may be swept over the screens at desiredspeed to prevent clogging.

The spiral conveyors I6 are provided with suitable driving trains, showndiagrammatically, by means of which they may be driven.

The shaft of each conveyor I6 is extended down through the perforatedplate and provided with radially-extending stirrer arms l6 so formed asto act to keep the contents of the vat in constant movement, but withoutsubstantial splashing at the upper surface.

The operation is as follows:

Suitable contents of hot tomato pulp and juice having been establishedin vats |8, |8, fresh tomatoes are delivered to the upper end of theconveyor |5 of one of the vats and by that con- Veyor promptly submergedin the hot mass and carried thence downwardly and pressed through theperforations l5, the arrangement being such that all substantialbreaking of the cells of the fruit takes place only after said cells aresubmerged in the hot bath.

When the bath has been sufficiently augmented the adjacent tank 28 willbe connected to vacuum chamber 35 so that the major quantity of air inthat tank 28 will be removed, whereupon the appropriate valve 21 isshifted to connect with the adjacent extractor 25, whereupon the juice.which passes through screens 58, will fiow into the appropriate tank 28.In the meantime fresh fruit is fed to the other vat.

I have found in practice that, as the juice passes through screens 58, avaporization takes place which tends to gas-log the separator, andtherefore that maintenance of a desired vacuum, during the transfertime, in tank 28, performs the second function of drawing these vaporsaway from the interior of the juice extractors, thereby Very materiallyspeeding up juice extraction. After a desired quantity of juice, withits entrained solids, has been extracted from tank ID, the appropriatevalve 21 is shifted to connect the transfer tank with the fillingmechanism, through pipe 48, the appropriate valve 33 is closed todisconnect this juice tank from the vacuum chamber, and. the appropriatevalve 32 is set so as to break the vacuum in the filled tank 28sufficiently to permit outfiow of the finished juice at a desired rate.

The juice as it flows into the juice tank is stirred and heated so thatthere is a considerable amount of vaporization which acts to promptlydisplace any free oxygen which has been in the tank. As a consequence,any absorption of oxygen by the juice in the juice tank is avoidedduring the period while the tank is being filled. During the period ofoutflow, air is admitted into the transfer tank but at this time thesurface of the content is substantially quiescent and the possibility ofair absorption is reduced to negligible amount.

This application is a division from my application Ser. No. 677,110which has matured into Patent No. 1,978,078.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for producing tomato products, comprising a vat in whichmay be maintained a pool of tomato liquor and pulp, means by which saidpool may be maintained at a superatmospheric temperature, means withinsaid vat and effective from the maximum level of said pool for receivingsuccessive fresh tomatoes, promptly submerging the same and thereafter,while so submerged, breaking the tomatoes into pulp and released liquor,a discharge conduit leading from the lower part of said vat, a finescreen guarding the said outlet, means for clearing said screen, acontainer arranged to receive the discharge from said conduit through anormally submerged inlet and means for exhausting air and vapors fromsaid container preliminary to and during flow from the vat into saidcontainer.

2. Apparatus for mechanically separating juice and pulp of water-buoyantfruits, such as tomatoes, comprising a tank of substantial depth andcapacity, means by which the major contents of said tank may bemaintained at a temperature substantially above normal atmospherictemperatures, a tube having external and internal diameters considerablyless than the internal diameter of the tank projected downwardly intosaid tank a multiplicity of fruit diameters below maintainable liquidlevel in the tank and provided at its lower end with a perforated head,and fruit-engagingand-forwarding means, mounted in said tube, with itsupper fruit-engaging end above the normal maximum level of the buoyantbath contained in the tank and its lower end adjacent said perforatedplate.

3. Apparatus for mechanically separating juice and pulp of water-buoyantfruits, such as tomatoes, comprising a tank of substantial depth andcapacity, means by which the major contents of said tank may bemaintained as a buoyant bath at a temperature substantially above normalatmospheric temperatures, a tube having external and internal diametersconsiderably less than the internal diameter of the tank with its upperend above the normal maximum level of tank contents and its lower endprojected downwardly into said tank a multiplicity of fruit diametersbelow maintainable liquid level in the tank and provided at its lowerend with a perforated head, and a spiral propeller rotatably mountedwithin said tube with the upper end of its flight above the normal fluidlevel within the tank and adapted to engage floating fruit and propelthe same downwardly in the buoyant bath, and with its lower end adjacentsaid perforated plate and adapted to force the fruit through saidperforated plate.

4. Apparatus for mechanically separating juice and pulp of fruits,comprising a tank of substantial depth and capacity, means arrangedwithin the tank near its lower regions by which juices may be liberatedfrom its pulp, conveyor means arranged within the tank and extendingfrom a point above the normal maintainable liquid level within the tankto said separating means and adapted to propel successive fruitsdownwardly in the liquid content of the tank to said separating means,and means by which the liquid content of the tank may be maintained at atemperature substantially above normal atmospheric temperatures.

5. Apparatus for mechanically separating juice and pulp of water-buoyantfruits, such as tomatoes, comprising a tank of substantial depth andcapacity, means by which the major contents of said tank may bemaintained at a temperature substantially above normal atmospherictemperatures, a tube having external and internal diameters considerablyless than the internal diameter of the tank with its upper end above thenormal maximum level of tank contents and its lower end projecteddownwardly into said tank a multiplicity of fruit-diameters belowmaintainable liquid level in the tank and provided at its lower end witha perforated head, and means, mounted in said tube, for receiving suchfruit at said maintainable level and propelling the same downwardly inthe buoyant bath contained in the tank and through said perforatedplate.

6. Apparatus for mechanically separating juice and pulp of water-buoyantfruits, such as tomatoes, comprising a tank of substantial depth andcapacity, means by which the major contents of said tank may bemaintained as a buoyant bath at a temperature substantially above normalatmospheric temperatures, a tube having external and internal diametersconsiderably less than the internal diameter of the tank with its upperend above the normal maximum level of tank contents and its lower endprojected downward into said tank a multiplicity of fruit-diametersbelow maintainable liquid level in the tank and provided at its lowerend with a perforated head, and a. spiral propeller rotatably mountedwithin said tube with the upper end of its flight above the normal fluidlevel within the tank and adapted to engage floating fruit and propelthe same downwardly in the buoyant bath, and with its lower end adjacentsaid perforated plate and adapted to force the fruit through saidperforated plate.

'7. Apparatus for producing tomato products, comprising a vat in whichmay be maintained a dominant pool of tomato liquor and pulp, means bywhich said pool may be maintained at superatmospheric temperature,macerating means arranged in the lower region of the vat by whichtomatoes may be reduced to juice and pulp, andtomato-engaging-and-forwarding means arranged in the vat with the uppertomato-engaging end above the ncrmal maximum pool level and its lowerend in the lower region of the vat adjacent the macerating means,whereby tomatoes delivered to the vat will be promptly submerged in thepool and after and during submergence will be macerated into juice andpulp, and a pulp-restraining juice outlet leading from the lower regionof the vat.

3. Apparatus for producing tomato products, comprising a vat in whichmay be maintained a dominant pool of tomato liquor and pulp, means bywhich said pool may be maintained at superatmospheric temperature,macerating means arranged in the lower region of the vat by whichtomatoes may be reduced to juice and pulp, andtomato-engaging-and-forwarding means arranged in the vat with the uppertomato-engaging end above the normal maximum pool level and its lowerend in the lower region of the vat adjacent the macerating means,whereby tomatoes delivered to the vat will be promptly submerged' in thepool and after and during submergence will be macerated into juice andpulp, a discharge conduit leading from the lower region of the vat, afine screen guarding said conduit, and means for clearing said screen.

9. Apparatus for producing tomato products, comprising a vat in whichmay be maintained a dominant pool of tomato liquor and pulp, means bywhich said pool may be maintained at superatmospheric temperature,macerating means arranged in the lower region of the vat by whichtomatoes may be reduced to juice and pulp, andtomato-engaging-and-forwarding means ar-

